Planning process begins for city of Tallahassee bicentennial park outside City Hall
Knight Creative Communities Institute is teaming up with city officials to create a special bicentennial park – "a memorable public place, in the heart of downtown, that will celebrate the city’s past and future in the spirit of the Tallahassee Bicentennial."
Despite being named the "bicentennial park," it won't actually be completed until next year, but KCCI's catalyst team has begun its planning process and looks to have a master plan together by the end of 2024.
Executive Director of KCCI Betsy Couch said that "in talking to a lot of different citizens last fall, there seems to be a huge community desire to have a park that would commemorate the 200th anniversary."
KCCI has worked on several other projects within the community such as "Art on Fire" and "Crosswalks to Classrooms." The bicentennial park will join other planned projects for the bicentennial such as the re-creation of the Log Cabin Capitol.
A special class of community catalysts
Every year, KCCI works to bring together a "diverse group of community catalysts" that come up with the new projects to enhance the community, foster entrepreneurship and keep people, especially creatives, from moving away from Tallahassee.
This year's catalysts first met last month and since supporting the idea of the bicentennial park, they've begun the early stages of the planning process for "an innovative, interactive public space commemorating our city's rich history and celebrating our shared future."
Among the new class is Maxim Nasab of the board of directors for the American Institute of Architectures Tallahassee and Apexx Architecture.
"This [park] is something the mayor and AIA Tallahassee had been discussing quite a bit," Nasab said. "...then it became, well, why not turn it into Bicentennial Park."
As for the location of the new park, KCCI's catalyst class is looking at transforming the Millennium Walkway next to City Hall, alongside Jefferson Street and near Kleman Plaza.
"[We're] looking at what enhancements could be done in that area while keeping the majestic oaks and all the existing trees," Couch said.
The team has also begun looking at specific design elements they want to include in the new park, such as lighting and seating. There is no set budget for the park, as the group studies design elements and seeks cost effective choices. But Couch shared that they are looking for sponsors.
The existing Millenium Walkway park outside City Hall gained a bit of notoriety last year when it became the site of a sunset abortion protest that ended with the state's two highest profile Democrats being led away in handcuffs for violating a curfew for demonstrations on city property.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book and nine other women were arrested as they sat in a circle in front of City Hall and sang a Bill Withers’ song, "Lean on Me."
The demonstration came after the Florida Senate had approved and sent to the House a bill to ban abortions at six weeks. The charges were subsequently dropped.
Looking for community input
The KCCI group plans to have more news in the coming weeks about the new park and timeline as they work through the process, Nasab shared.
They are also creating a survey with which the community can offer suggestions for the park. People can already share their thoughts at https://kccitallahassee.com/
"Our plan is to gain additional community feedback and see out of what could be built, what the community desires the most," Couch said.
Arianna Otero is the City Solutions Reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com or on Twitter/X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: KCCI looks to transform City Hall walkway into bicentennial park
